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We have developed new cell-free prion protein conversion reactions that serve as rapid ultra-sensitive prion assays and tools for learning about prion structure. One such assay, RT-QuIC, is proving to be the most specific test currently available for the antemortem diagnosis of human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other prion diseases of humans and animals. We are currently adapting this approach to the detection of pathological misfolded proteins of other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Inhibitors of prion protein conversion are being identified and tested as anti-TSE drugs.

Biography

Fluorescently tagged prions taken up and transported along neuritic projections in a cultured neuron. Credit: Dr. Kil Sun Lee

Dr. Caughey received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985 and completed postdoctoral studies in pharmacology at Duke University Medical Center from 1985 to 1986. He has conducted TSE/prion research in the Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases since 1986. He became a tenured senior investigator in 1994. Dr. Caughey is also an editor for the Journal of Virology and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

Patents

Caughey WS, Caughey B, inventors; The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services, assignee. Inhibitors of amyloid formation. United States patent US 6,632,808. 14 Oct 2003.